How to shop safely online during the pandemic
Despite stores reopening in many parts of the country, people are still shopping online more than ever. And that includes the use of new sites created by your favorite small businesses, trying to stay afloat in dangerous economic times. But be careful, experts warn, because cybercriminals also flock to e-commerce sites. His favorite crimes include opening fake accounts on retail sites and hijacking real accounts through identity theft. Online fraud was already on the rise before COVID-19 in large part thanks to the deployment of chip and signature technology, which has made the in-person credit card fraud of the past that much more difficult to achieve. Account acquisitions increased 72% in 2019, to 13 million cases, according to the most recent figures from security firm Javelin, which tracks financial crime. Consumer fraud losses in the United States reached $ 16.9 billion that year, with consumers directly paying $ 3.5 billion of the total. Meanwhile, previously existing consumer in